Children of the World – “The Time is Now”

The Liner/Sleeve Notes:“Steve Popovich and legendary Nashville producer / arranger Bill Justis have created a labor of love for our perpetual enjoyment and inspiration. The voices of singing children never fail to create goose-bumps – and these Children of the World will thrill your heart. They sing with a long list of adult superstars and the selection of songs is brilliant, from “If Only We Had The Time” (what a philosophy to come from out-of-the-mouths-of-babes) and “Kids Are People, Too,” to “Grandfather Song” (perfect!), to a stirring, scalp-tingling “American Medley” with Charlie Daniels. The heart is warmed. The soul is inspired. The eyes mist over… It is time that the music of our children be heard outside of school auditoriums and classrooms. It is time for these voices to ride the media and caress the airwaves. For these are the voices of rock and flame. These are indeed the voices of our children… Child of the World. Kal Rudman “The Man With the Golden Ears,” Publisher / Editor of The Friday Morning Quarterback”

Personal Review:To be 100% completely honest, I only bought this record because it has Herve Villechaize from Fantasy Island singing on it, and that alone is worth buying it for. I’m also sure, back in 1980 when it was released, it was also worth buying because all royalties from this record when to Northern Ohio’s Children’s Performing Foundation.

So, the album opens with an instrumental titled “Lullaby” – and well, it’s decent, basically keyboards. Not overly interesting.Then it goes on Andy Williams singing “If We Only Had Time” – and well, this is actually my first time hearing Andy Williams, despite the records I have from him. The children provide the backing vocals, and Andy is a good singer, not a bad opening track. The song is good though. After that we go onto the track “Kids Are People, Too” sung with Bobby Goldsboro, who I’ve never heard of, but he’s a good singer, not a bad vocalist. The song is a little bland for me, but it’s a charitable record, so it goes decently. Now for the real reason I bought this record, Herve Villechaize singing “Why” – and his tiny, french voice is just adorable singing this heartfelt song about life, love and fighting, and did you know that Herve was BIG on children’s rights, and worked avidly in defending child abuse victims. He may have been tiny, but it didn’t stop him from putting child abusers in their place. His song on this album really is my favorite, just sung from the heart of such a kind man. The kids singing on this song are pretty good too. The A-Side closes with Ellen Foley and Jimmy Hall singing “The Time is Now” and Ellen’s voice is pretty nice, I definitely am liking this song too, it’s not bad at all. Jimmy Hall begins to sing his part, and Jimmy has a really powerful voice, I was not expecting it, but wow, he’s pretty great too. The backing musicianship is fantastic.

The B-Side opens with “World of Love” sung by Janie Fricke – and well, her voice too is pretty great, and when she starts to sing with the kids, it’s just great, like wow, the record started off a bit rough, but it begins to get better and better as it continues. After that we continue onto the “Grandfather Song” sung by Frank Yankovic (no relation to Al) – and he’s got a grandfather voice, so it’s kinda funny he sings a song about them, the kids join in, and well, it’s not really my type of music this one, but it’s alright. After that we go onto Doc Severinsen performing Hagood Hardy’s “The Homecoming” on trumpet, and it’s a good instrumental, the trumpet can be a really relaxing instrument to hear when performed with a piano. After that we go back to Herve singing again, this time it’s a song titled “When a Child is Born” – and he says some spoken words in French first, and then begins to sing the song, it’s not quite as good as “Why” but, Herve still sings from his heart for the kids, and it’s just heartwarming, because Herve loved to help kids. There’s a spoken verse, and then back to Herve singing with the kids. We then continue to the children singing the “America Medley” – which the first part is “America the Beautiful” and it’s pretty good, then Charlie Daniels comes in to sing “God Bless America” and well, this is perfect, I love it, it’s a perfect way to technically close this album. Fantastic. Then it closes with the “Lullaby” reprise.

Interesting Facts:
None.

Track Listing:
A1 – Lullaby
A2 – If We Only Had The Time
A3 – Kids Are People, Too
A4 – Why
A5 – The Time Is Now